Investors sell Weyerhaeuser shares as Grassy dispute continues

By Mike Aiken
Miner and News

June 16,2009

American mutual fund giant Calvert Investments has decided to pull its support from forestry giant Weyerhaeuser. In a recent press release, representatives for Calvert, which has more than $13 billion in assets, made the decision recently  after concluding the multi-national's position on Grassy Narrows wasn't consistent with their socially-conscious strategies.

"Specifically, we are concerned that neither Grassy Narrows nor the Province of Ontario will have the information necessary to make informed decisions about whether and where logging should take place in the Whiskey Jack Forest without undertaking the steps indicated in their negotiations, such as conducting a Traditional Land Use and Occupancy Study," it said in a prepared statement issued on behalf of Calvert.

"We believe it is critical that all interested parties recognize that
this is the first year of what was projected to be a four-year process to reach an informed and equitable state-to-state decision," the release continued.

"Without the time necessary to take appropriate actions, such as identifying protected sites, we are concerned that Grassy Narrows will be unable to make decisions regarding the Whiskey Jack Forest that truly reflect their interests," the statement concluded.

Weyerhaeuser is the parent company for Kenora's iLevel plant, which has been under severe economic pressure during the American housing crisis. There are an estimated 370 associates, contractors and woodlot operators related to iLevel, who are still riding out the mortgage crisis and subsequent market meltdown.

The decision by Calvert comes shortly after the latest quarterly
results from Weyerhaeuser showed losses of $264 million. Share prices closed Monday at $32.70 (US), down $54.39 (US) from a high of $87.09 (US) in January 2007.

In June 2008, local management put their staff on notice, saying they had nobody left to cut wood in the Whiskey Jack Forest, following AbitibiBowater's decision to abandon their woodland operations. AbitibiBowater announced they were seeking bankruptcy protection in April.

The legal representative for Grassy Narrows, Kate Kempton, said Monday there were plans prepared by the province that showed clearcutting would take place in the Whiskey Jack Forest, but they would begin in blocks located outside of what she considered to be the First Nation's traditional land use area.

Kempton continued to say that areas identified for future harvesting were inside of what she considered to be traditional territory, and this was part of the ongoing negotiations between the community and the province. Creating a more precise map of Grassy's land use area was also part of the process, Kempton noted.

It's possible an agreement between the two sides could be reached, before cutting begins.

"We're not there yet," she emphasized.

A permanent blockade was set up six years ago, as the dispute over logging rights in the Whiskey Jack escalated in the winter of 2002. It reached a peak in the summer of 2006, when protesters also blocked the Trans-Canada near Kenora, along with the English River Road at the Separation Lake bridge.

Despite the downturn in the economy, an estimated 2,500 jobs still depend on the fibre in the Whiskey Jack, which also supplies wood to mills in Dryden, Ear Falls and Fort Frances.

Meanwhile, there continues to be progress on the Two Feathers
initiative, which includes partners in Pikangikum, Red Lake, Wabigoon, Dryden and Eagle Lake, as well as international investors and consumers. A partnership has also formed between Whitedog First Nation and Moncrief, which is helping to supply material for area mills, including iLevel.